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Chase Freedom: A More Rewarding Way to Shop

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I have been a Chase Freedom credit card holder since 2007. I use the Chase Freedom card for my day-to-day spending and always pay it off in full each month. Based on these six years as a cardholder, here are my thoughts on the card — including the good and the bad.

The Good

Here’s what I like best about my Chase Freedom card.

Rewards Percentage Back

The Chase Freedom card offers 5% total cash back in several categories every quarter (up to $1500 in combined purchases in bonus categories each quarter) and unlimited 1% on everything else. (Read about the rotation scheme below.) For the current quarter (April - June), the categories are restaurants, Bed Bath & Beyond, H&M, and Overstock.com. 5% back is a great percentage back that few credit cards can beat.

Cash Back Rewards

The Chase Ultimate Rewards program is truly one of the most flexible rewards programs that I’ve seen. I almost always use my points for cash back, in the form of a check or a statement credit. The ratio of points to cash is 100/1 (so for every $100 you spend on 5% category items, you get five points — which then you can use for $5 back.). The rewards programs also offers redemption for gift cards, travel, and products. And if you have multiple cards earning Chase Ultimate rewards points, you can combine the points from both cards together to redeem for a higher priced reward.

Visa Is Accepted Everywhere

Let’s face it — Visa truly is “everywhere you want to be.” Any place I’ve ever been that accepts credit cards takes Visa. It’s nice to carry a card and not have to worry that the cashier will say “Sorry, we don’t take that card.”

Occasional Bonuses and Coupons

Several times a quarter I receive coupons in the mail that I can use if I use my Chase Freedom card at a merchant. For example, in the past few months I’ve received coupons for $10 off of $50 at Old Navy and 10%-30% off at Barnes and Noble. While these aren’t places I frequently shop, occasionally the coupon will be for something I need at that time, and I will take advantage of it.

Easy-to-Navigate Website

I’ve had bank accounts or credit cards with nine banking institutions in the past 10 years and do 95% of my banking online, so I have a good sense of what makes a good banking website. The Chase Freedom site is overall very easy to use. It’s simple to login, set up payments (automatic or regular), track your spending, and generally do anything that you need to do on your credit card’s website. I appreciate not having to click around to find what I’m looking for each time I sign on.

Great Sign-Up Bonus

You can almost always get a great sign up bonus when you sign up for a new Chase Freedom card. The current sign up bonus is $100 after you spend $500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening. That’s a nice chunk of change just for getting a new card.

You'll also get a 0% APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers. After that, the APR will be 13.99-22.99% variable.

The Bad

Despite all the positive aspects to the Chase Freedom card, here are a few things that I’m less than happy with.

Rotating Rewards

I am not a fan of the rotating rewards. While it’s nice to get rewarded for different categories of purchases, I would much rather have consistency in my rewards. I don’t do much “rewards hacking” — using a different card for different purchases in order to get the highest reward — so I would rather just know that I will always get a set percentage back no matter what month it is. I have enough else on my mind that I don’t want to try to remember which categories are worth more at that time. That said, I do look forward to getting 5% back at H&M, which I won’t get anywhere else.

Opting In to the Rotating Rewards

Not only do the 5% rewards change every quarter, you must also re-opt in each time. If you don’t opt in, you don’t get the 5% in those categories. Granted, Chase makes it easy by sending you an email with a link that requires just one click, but still, I find it inconvenient that I have to re-opt in each quarter just to get the higher rewards. I’m guessing they do this because there’s a psychological/marketing principle that says that when you have to opt in or interact with something, you value it more and are more likely to use it. Regardless of the reason, I’m not a fan of the opt in rewards.

The Bottom Line

Despite the shortcomings of the Chase Freedom credit card, I would still recommend it as a rewards cards for someone who is looking for an everyday cash back card. I use it as my everyday card for mundane purchases like gas and groceries. The Chase Freedom card is an excellent rewards card for the reasons I’ve previously listed, especially because:

Visa is accepted everywhere

The rewards redemption (including for cash) is excellent

Even if you don’t shop in the 5% category, you are always guaranteed 1% back

Editorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any bank, card issuer, airline or hotel chain.

Disclaimer: The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

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Scott #1

As far as I recall, the 5% back is only on the first $1,500. Certainly something to consider.

Wise Bread is an independent, award-winning, advertising-supported website. Many credit card offers that appear here are from companies from which Wise Bread receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). Wise Bread does not include all card offers in the marketplace.

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